Hiring The Right Virtual Assistant for Your Online Business

Are you tired of doing all the work by yourself? While that’s what most new entrepreneurs do in the beginning, you should hire someone to help you.

Hiring a virtual assistant for your online business is a lengthy process. At least it should be because you’re trying to find someone good and reliable.

The last thing you want is to waste time, so it’s important to find the right person who can take on the tasks you don’t have the time for. The person should help and contribute to the overall growth of your online business.

How to find the right assistant? Max from Clean That Floor has a very specific process when hiring a virtual assistant. Proceed to the article below as he explains how to find the right person for the job.

1. Figure out what type of VA you need

If you’re wondering what can a VA do for you, the answer is pretty much everything. A well-trained person can do a lot, depending on the skills and knowledge he/she has. Since it’s a virtual assistant, the job should not require their physical presence.

There are two types known as general and specialized virtual assistants. General VA is someone who takes on daily tasks that are important for the company, but not as crucial for its growth.

These tasks are typically repetitive such as scheduling your travels, managing emails, data entry, scheduling meetings, posts on social media, and so on.

A specialized VA already has a specific skill set and requires minimal training from you. This person is more qualified to oversee a certain part of your business. In most cases, they are a bit more expensive.

2. Document the tasks you want them to do

Before you start searching for the right person, you should know what you want the person to do. You have to make a job description, and for that, you need to specify what their job would be.

Think about this and make a list of the tasks you want your VA to deal with. If you’re already doing these things, you might want to create small training sheets and documents to help the person in the beginning.

If you’re hiring a specialized VA, you should write actual outcomes for them to achieve rather than tasks.

3. Make a job description

Once you figured out what their job would be, you should make a detailed job description. It should include some background info about your online business, level of education, and experience you look for as well as any specific skills.

List the duties and responsibilities and software, tools, and apps you expect them to use. While you should say a few things about the business, don’t write a two-page essay on how you started. Just state some facts about your company, what you do and who your clients are.

4. Post the job description

You should now post the job description and start receiving applications. You can post it any place you like since the choice is up to you. To start, think about do you want someone from the area, or from anywhere in the world.

Another option is to use a hiring assistant for this if you feel like you can’t do it by yourself.

5. Review and schedule

Applications will start to arrive pretty quickly, so make sure you’re ready to review them as soon as possible.

Pick five to ten people for a video interview. Video interviews are the best way to figure out if you like someone or not. It’s also a great way of seeing a person’s communication level.

Of course, you shouldn’t hire a person who doesn’t want to do a video interview. This is a red flag.

The interview shouldn’t just be about their skills and previous work experience. You should talk to them about their hobbies, goals and how they like to work. You might also want to ask them about their values because a conflict of values can be an ongoing problem in the future.

6. Test your top candidates

Narrow the list of candidates down to only three people. Give them a task to complete that would be a part of their regular job to see how well they perform.

Seeing people do this helps determine whether they’re right for the job or not. Sometimes, we really like someone during the interview, but the person might not show such great results when it comes to working.

7. Give a trial period to your best candidate

At this point, you should have your top candidate and the person who seems the most fitting for the job. Before giving them the actual job, you might want to consider a trial period of 30, 60, or 90 days.

This gives you additional time to figure out if the person is right for the job. It also helps people to prove themselves a bit better since they have a bit more time on hand.

Still, make sure you sign a formal Service Agreement so that you avoid any legal issues in the future.

8. Keep a close eye

Having someone on trial period doesn’t mean that the search is over. It means that you’re close to having a VA, but many things can still go wrong.

For this reason, keep an eye on the person you chose. Watch how they do their job and whether they’re on time with the tasks.

9. Ask another staff member

If you don’t like anyone who applied for the job, you might want to ask another staff member for help. Sometimes, people know other people who have fitting skills and work experience.

Ask your content writer or your social media manager if they know someone who’d like to join the team. Even if the person doesn’t have as much skill or training, he/she is usually quite reliable since it’s recommended to you.

This way, you can save some time looking and interviewing dozen of different candidates.